Interoperable EV Detection for Dynamic Wireless Charging With Existing Hardware and Free Resonance

The implementation of wireless charging for electric vehicles (EVs) in dynamic charging applications such as on highways typically requires extra hardware both in the vehicle and on the ground to detect the oncoming EV and energize the appropriate ground pads. A detection scheme is proposed in this paper that utilizes free resonant currents in the pad windings to detect small changes in coupling between neighboring ground pads as the EV moves over them. The detection scheme can be made to be interoperable with all magnetic pad topologies and utilizes components that already exist in most popular electronic converters and tuning networks. Specific implementation details with several different electronic topologies are discussed and the simulation results are presented showing the detection scheme working with a vehicle driving at 100 km/h. The experimental results demonstrating the vehicle detection with a dynamic charging system operating at 3.3 kW are also presented.